Dark Side of Night
by LaurynLou
Summary: Robin is out on patrol when he runs into some trouble. Things don't go according to plan and mistakes are made. A darkfic
1. Dark Side of Night

Disclaimer: Why yes, I disclaim.

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><p>Dark Side of Night<p>

It was just another normal night in Jump City. Robin was out on patrol, making sure all stayed quiet. He wasn't out there looking for criminal masterminds like the mercenary Slade or the elusive Red X, but rather making sure everyone made it home safely. Just something to get him out of the house, or rather tower that he lived in with his four other teammates.

Though the rest of the team wasn't too fond of Robin going off on his own patrols, he lived for it. It reminded him of being back in Gotham, only here, he get could do things the way he wanted, be his own hero without Daddy Bats to get in the way, telling him what to do. It also let him sort out his thoughts and get have some alone time, away from his team. At first, Robin had made a habit of sneaking out of the tower two or three nights a week and of course it wasn't long before the team found out and they weren't happy, to say the least. After some arguing and lots of discussion, it was agreed that he could go out, as long as he promised to call if anything more than a petty crime came up. Not wanting to give up his freedom, he made the promise and didn't intend to go back on that. At the moment he was sitting on thin ice with his team, between sneaking out and his infamous Red X incident. He had crossed a line he never should have, creating and becoming a thief to get the attention of a certain villain. His team had found out and he was just happy to still be on the team, let alone still leader. But thats a whole other story.

Robin sat perched on the ledge of a nearby building, only about three stories up. The night had so far been uneventful and peaceful. The air out was perfect, not too hot, not too chilly, with a hint of salt...perfect spring night on the coast. He had been out for three hours now and found absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. No muggings, no fights or illegal dealings. Nothing. Perhaps he'd call it an early night and get some sleep for once. He'd wait one more hour, until midnight, to head back to the tower and get some rest.

Robin watched a small group of teenagers walking down the street, talking about some movie they had just seen. Laughing and enjoying each other's company. Seemingly, out of nowhere, a van pulled up beside the group as they all stopped and looked at it, abruptly ending they conversation they had been having. Robin watched closely, right hand laying on his grappling hook, bo staff in left, just in case he needed to be down there quickly.

"Yo, that's my dad! Katie, your coming with me right? We'll see the rest of you later," one of the boys said as he and Katie hopped into the van.

Robin relaxed, letting out the breath he had been holding, and watched the others turn the corner and disappear. Hopefully heading home, as it was a school night. He stood up, turning around to head back to where he had parked his bike, just a few blocks away.

He was almost there as he heard a gunshot break through the peaceful night, followed by a woman crying out. Now on top of another building, he ran over towards where he heard the shot and the cry, to look down upon an alley. There he saw a woman knelt down before a man who held a gun to the woman's head, next to them, a trash bin and next to the trash bin laid a man, who, from the looks of it, had been shot in the head.

Tears ran down the hysterical woman's face and she looked down at the man, then back to the one holding the gun. She raised her hands before then man, as if she were in prayer.

"Please! I don't know anything, I swear!" She choked out.

Immediately Robin jumped from his perch, right on top of the man that had held the gun. The two crashed onto the dirty, wet ground of the ally and began a quick struggle over the gun as Robin elbowed the man in the face forcing him to let go of the weapon, before hitting him once again in the head with the butt of the metal object. He slid the gun across the ground of the alley, getting it away from both himself and the man now laying unconscious on the ground.

Robin got up, turning to look at the lady. "You alright ma'am..." His question was cut of by a sound at the other end of the alley.

"Not too smart birdie! Just stay back!" another, smaller, nervous looking man said as he came out of the shadows, holding the very gun Robin had thrown in his direction.

_Shit! __Where __did __he __come __from?_

Robin then noticed what he had the gun aimed at. In front of him, he held onto a girl, no older than six with tears streaming down her face, his left hand held tightly over her mouth, keeping her quiet.

_Shit!_

"Mary!"

Before Robin could blink, the lady that was standing next to him was gone, taking off towards the man and child, another yell, another shot, a cry and the shocked expression of man holding the gun, which suddenly fell the the floor. The man looked to the lady, who now laid by the man next to the trash can as a second pool of blood quickly grew and then back to Robin, letting go of the little girl. He put his hands up in defense as he slowly began to back away, fearing the teen in front of him and shocked by his own actions.

"I...I...I didn't mean to! I swear it! She just started running at me and..." and the man took off down the alley, desperate for an escape.

Quickly, Robin pulled out his bo staff, throwing it with skilled precision at the man, effectively hitting him in the head and knocking him unconscious. He turned back to where the girl was now kneeling in blood, crying and trying to wake her parents, who were lifeless on the ground.

Sirens could be heard in the distance. Someone must have heard the gunshots and called the cops. By the sound of them, they were close and it would only take them a matter of minutes to get here.

Still shocked at what had unfolded, Robin walked over to the child, picking her up and taking her out of the alley and away from the gruesome scene. The separation made her cry out louder and struggle against him in hopes of returning to her murdered family. Once out of the alley, he leaned against the wall, with the girl in his arms, sliding down to a sitting position, not letting her go. He let her sit and cry in his arms until the cops arrived and took her from him.

"Are you alright son?" Robin looked up to see an elder police officer, probably one of the higher ranking officers of the bunch, kneeling next to him. The man's hair was gray, as was his mustache and he had kind eyes. Actually, he reminded Robin a lot of Commissioner Gordon back in Gotham.

"Y..yea..." he answered, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, I tried to stop them...I don't even know...It happened so fast..."

"It's fine...you did what you could," the officer said, cutting him off and resting a hand on his shoulder. "My name is Officer Perry. Just tell me what happened"

Robin related the events that had occurred, from the time he heard the gunshot to the point when they arrived, then headed to his bike and back toward the Tower.

Quietly, Robin made his way back his room, where he shut himself inside, back against the door. He slid down it, just as he had in front of the ally with the little girl, only this time bringing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around his legs.

He thought back to the little girl and the difficulties that faced her. He knew better than anyone the heartache, the pain and the anger that came a long with losing your parents, especially in such a violent way as you stand by helpless. It's not something that you forget and its not a pain that gets easier, rather you just succumb to it and start to become numb.

He never did figure out what the men were after or what part the now deceased woman and man played in it. He didn't want to know. He didn't care. It no longer mattered why the men from the ally were after them and it wouldn't change anything now. What was done, was done and you couldn't undo it. That was a lesson he had to learn the hard way. Although he had seen his fair share of horror and tragedy throughout his short life, these situations never did come any easier and it never ceased to amaze him of the horrors that people were capable of.

Robin could smell the blood that was soaked into his clothes. The smell and thought made his stomach churn as he tried to shake the thoughts and memories from his head, trying to will the nausea away, but to no avail. He shot up he darted into his bathroom, barely making it to the toilet and throwing up the pizza he had eaten earlier in the evening.

Shaking, he stood up, stripping the clothing from his body, seemingly not being able to rid himself of them quick enough. He tossed them into the trash, not even wanting to look at the blood soaked garments. Turning on the hot water as high as he could stand he stepped into the shower and began to scrub away the blood on his skin.

Twenty minutes later Robin emerged from his bathroom, skin red from the heat and over scrubbing. Still wearing his mask, he was now dressed in a pair of black sweat pants and a white t-shirt. He made his way to the bed and laid down, pulling the covers over his head.

Ever since the murder of his own parents and since his initiation as Robin, he had hoped and tried to keep the same thing from happening to anyone else and sometimes, it made him do brash things and blurred that fine line between right and wrong. It was a pain he wouldn't wish on anyone and so he swore to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. And he had failed...miserably. Now, there were two people dead and an orphaned little girl who would have to live with the horror of seeing her parents murdered and the life that was to follow.

Not only had he fail, but he had assisted. That was the worst part. He felt that he had practically handed the gun to the other killer. The act of tossing the gun to where the other man was hiding was particularly sticking out in his mind. How could he have missed the man hiding at the end of the alley, or the little girl for that matter? He admitted to himself that there was nothing he could have done for the dad, but the mom...how could he have been so stupid! That was his fault. His mistake. He _allowed_ her mom to be taken away. _He_ took her mother away from her. Or at least that was how he had seen it. He admitted that he rushed into the situation and that he still had a lot to learn about the hero life he had planned to lead.

He felt nauseous all over again as he shook the thoughts from his head and wondered what he would tell the titans in the morning..._if_ he would tell the titans.

_Maybe __this __is __something __I __should __keep __to __myself._

He knew that he was already on the verge of losing the last ounce of trust that the team had left in him. They had given him a little of it back by letting him go out on patrol without them. Even that he considered generous of them. But he couldn't tell them about tonight. If there was one thing he was more afraid of than losing his friends and the trust placed in him, was the look of disappointment he could imagine on their faces. It mirrored the disappointed me had in himself and he couldn't bare the thought of letting his friends down...again.

Robin began to think of his own parents, allowing the familiar pain of loss to well up in his chest as he began to cry...or had he already been crying? He imagined the little girl...Mary was it? He could picture her lying down, trying to go to sleep with the same stream of tears running down her face.

Before Robin knew it, he had cried himself to sleep. Not that his dreams were much of an escape from reality, as they were always filled with dark memories and mistakes from the past...

They never let him forget anything...

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><p>Please, don't forget to review and let me know what you think!<p> 


	2. Lost in the Dark

So I had to take a story and rewrite it from a new point of view and perspective and so this is what came of it. It is same story, only told my someone else...making it a whole different story :)

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><p>Lost in the Dark<p>

I pulled up to the old warehouse down by the docks that a buddy and colleague of mine told me to meet him at. He says that the boss has a job for us to do and what the boss says, goes. I can't say who our boss is or what his business is, but just take it from me, this is a guy you do not cross! When he tells you to do something, you better do it or you can say hello to an early grave. He kills indiscriminately and unmercifully and if you owe him anything, you better hide and pray to whatever higher power you'd like, pray to them all, that he doesn't find you. Which, he will.

As I pull up to the abandoned building and I see Marty step out of the shadows and towards my car, wearing dark jeans and a dark jacket, the simple and cliché uniform that we have chosen for ourselves. The sun went down hours ago, its about 11 o' clock at night, and so he is almost invisible until he steps into my headlights. As he opens the door and gets in, he lectures me on my late arrival.

"Where have you been? We were supposed to leave about an hour ago and if Jack gets out of town before we can get to him, the boss will have our heads."

"I know, I'm sorry, just get in!"

There is nothing that I can do now, but apologize and Marty knows this and doesn't dwell on it. Somehow, I always seem to be running late. Its hard to schedule everything around three kids, especially when your a single father and I know this isn't exactly the business I should expose my kids to, but the job came long before them, and once your in, there is no out. They don't know what it is I do for a living and I don't intend to let them find out. No need to expose them to the dark side of the world.

Jack lives nearby, so we don't have to go very far, its only ten blocks away. I'm not sure of the whole situation with Jack, other than he has information as to the whereabouts of one of the cities major drug lords, and if that is the case, I feel very sorry for him. To tell us the information, would be the end of him from the drug lord, and not to tell us, means the end of him from our end. Its not our job to question the reasoning behind what we are sent to do, our only job is to carry out the mission. We just silently do our jobs.

"Pull over here," Marty instructs, pointing along the curb, only a bit more than a block from and of course I do what I'm told. Following orders. Its what I do best, which is why I always let Marty call the shots when we are on a mission. Partly, because its easier, but also because when we do something bad, its easier to say: "I was only following orders." Its like my outlet, something that effectively keeps my conscious at bay.

I turn the car off and get out, stepping onto the street, my foot inches away from a water filled pothole. I meet Marty up on the cracked sidewalk as he pulls out his gun, checking one last time to make sure it was loaded, and we begin to walk to the the building we know that Jack lives in. We walk up the steps to the old building and Marty opens the door just in time to reveal Jack standing there with a suitcase in hand, which he drops at the sight of us. Behind him stands a young lady, late twenties maybe, holding a little girl who seems to be five, maybe even six, years old.

"Going someone Jacky?" Marty questions the shocked man in front of him.

"No...I mean, yes...I was just...I mean _we_ were just going to visit some friends..." Jack tries to respond, obviously not trying to cause any trouble.

"Sure you were Jacky."

Marty walks up to Jack and puts his arms around the shoulder and leads him down the steps, only taking a moments to look at me and nod toward the young lady still holding the child in her arms. I take this as my cue. I walk up the remaining steps, taking the kid from the lady, who tries to keep hold of the now crying child. I hate doing this, but I grab the child, earning some cries, and push her away, quietly telling her to keep quiet, for the sake of her family. She understands the threat to her small family and stops any protests. I then turn to follow Marty, who has now reached the bottom of the steps, the lady following behind me.

"Let's take a walk Jacky and, you know, play catch up" Marty begins his game. "So you know Frank right? Frank Leone?"

"I've heard of him, but I've never met him!" Jack said, "He and I don't run in the same circles, you should know that."

"Well our sources say different. They say you know where he is and we'd be _really_ grateful if you'd tell us. We'd like to pay him a visit."

"Look...I know what you think, but your wrong. I...I don't know where he is."

I could tell this wasn't going to end well, especially since I know Marty doesn't have much patience. He doesn't like to play these games for very long. As if to confirm this, Marty took his arm that was still around Jack's shoulders and grabbed him by the front of his coat, shoving him into the ally that laid between the apartment building and the car. I followed him in, with the lady following behind me. A dark ally in the middle of the night is the last place you want to be with the two of us and now I can only wonder if any of them will make it out alive. I push those thoughts out of my mind and concentrate on what is going on in front of me. Marty continues to talk to Jack and I head toward the shadows that lay further withing the ally to hide myself away. There I kneel down, child still in my arms as I watch the scene unfold.

"Just tell us where he is Jack and you can walk out of this ally with your family." Marty pulls the guns out and points it at Jack to emphasize his threat. The lady that was following me runs over to the two, fearful for her husband.

"Please stop! I beg you, he doesn't know anything about this Frank person!"

"Back up lady! This doesn't concern you yet!" Marty took the gun and aimed it at the lady before him, trying to get her to go back to being the quiet, subdued person she was a few minutes ago. The child in my arms begins to scream at the sight of the gun being pointed at her mother and I cover her mouth with my hands in an attempt to silent her panicked cries.

Jack sees the situation before him and bolts down the ally, heading toward my way. A shot is fire and Jack goes down only feet from a dumpster. It is at this point any sympathy that I had for the man disappeared and instead is transferred to the wife and child, for their fate is now certain, thanks to a cowardly husband who tried to abandon and sacrifice them for his own selfish reasons. Shock passes over everyone present before the lady cries out, running over to her fallen husband, as blood begins to pool around his body, coming from the bullet wound in his head.

"Dammit! Now why did he have to go and do that for!" Marty is clearly upset and frustrated and both his and the deceased mans rash actions. He walks over and kicks the man on the ground before looking over at the lady, now pointing the gun at her head.

"I guess its up to you know. I'm sure ol' Jacky here said something to you"

The lady, who was crying, not holding any tears back, put her hand together, looking from her dead husband to Mary, pleading with him,

"Please! I don't know anything, I swear!"

I knew she was telling the truth, but I also knew that Marty did not care. The child began to struggle more and I held on more tightly, not letting her make a sound. A sudden movement caught my attention back to the scene, away from the child. Something just knocked Marty off his feet and to the ground. From my position all I could see was Marty struggling with another figure. It all happened so quick it was hard to tell what was happening and before I could figure out what had happened, Marty was lying unconscious on the ground. The figure stood up, kicking the gun in my direction and walked over to the lady and that's when I saw him. Robin, leader of the Teen Titans, former sidekick of Batman. I had heard stories of him and they were never good. He didn't seem to show restraint as the other kids did. All freaks if you ask me. It was in that split second that I realized something: He hadn't seen me. Not only that, but he practically gave me a gun.

"You alright ma'am..."

"Not too smart birdie! Just stay back!" The shocked expression on his face as I stepped out of the shadows with the gun now to the little girl's head. My goal now: Get them to stay back, so I can get around them and get the hell out of this ally. This is why Marty always came up with the plans. Mine never seemed to work out right. If only to prove my point, the lady, who immediately got to her feet at the sight of the gun pointed at her daughter, reacted, running toward me.

"Mary!"

Before she got very far another shot rang out and the lady fell to the ground. I looked around for where the shot could have come from before I realized the gun in my hand was smoking...it had been me. I couldn't believe it. I never shot anyone, that was always left to Marty. I only assisted. Sure I've threatened people with a gun, but never pulled the trigger. How did I even manage to hit her? I looked up to the teen who looked just as shocked as I felt. I let go of the little girl and put my hands up, panic now overcoming me, my body filling with adrenaline.

""I...I...I didn't mean to! I swear it! She just started running at me and..." I didn't get to finish my excuse as my fight or flight response kicked in and I took off town the ally, unsure of where I was going, just trying to get out. Suddenly there was a sharp pain at the back of my head and everything went black.

Next thing I new I was being picked off the ground by a couple of police officers. I looked around to see a group of officers huddled around a couple of bodies and that is when all the memories came back to me and I new it was game over. There was no escape now as I was cuffed and put into the back of a cop car, the officer saying some incoherent mumble jumble to me...probably reading me my rights. As I sat there, all I could think of was what would happen to my kids, as I was sure this would be my last night out in a long time. The only thing that was certain of my future now was prison and my only hope was that I didn't end my life there. My kids would be very disappointed in me and I doubt I'd ever even see them again. I didn't even notice the officers that had gotten in the car as the engine came alive. We left the scene of the ally and took off down toward the police station, my head hung the entire way.


End file.
